For
better or for worse, we are who we are because of our relationships. Our
early childhood experiences with our families and those in our immediate
environment end up having a huge influence on how we learn to function in the
world. In more recent years, the word 'trauma' has entered our vocabulary
in such a way that it is no longer confined to acute injury wards or to
emergency relief work. Trauma is what we hold in our bodies after traumatic
experiences and they can have a long-lasting effect on us. Our ability to
thrive depends on how well we can integrate these experiences so that the
trauma no longer resides in our bodies and so that we can ultimately look after
our own needs whilst maintaining healthy and positive relationships.
Psychotherapy is a process by which we can repair our earlier wounds and learn
new ways of being in the world that better support us our individual needs and
help us to forge healthy relationships with the people in our lives.
In the presence of another, the process of 'healing' or making whole again
incorporates the following factors: being heard and accepted for all that we
are; increasing our self-awareness; developing the capacity for
self-reflection; learning new skills such as communication or ways to nurture
ourselves; understanding how it is that we are where we are right now; owning
and integrating parts of ourselves that we have cut off or rejected and
learning to love ourselves.
My work with clients is a co-creative effort, and working together, the goal is
to help them experience greater self-mastery and well-being. I draw
my practice from various traditions, theoretical frameworks and schools of
therapy, and I tailor my work to suit their particular issues, needs and
preferences.
People come to me for various reasons including:
a desire for greater alignment with who they really are, rather than someone they feel they need to be to meet expectations
to learn ways to overcome and manage mental health issues such as depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety
to come to terms with childhood trauma and to move beyond them to have a fulfilling and empowered life
to heal the impact of separation and abandonment
to increase general health and well-being
to deal with relationship challenges and to learn more satisfying and fulfilling ways of being in relationship
to improve parenting skills in order to have happier and healthier relationships with their children